Maersk takes delivery of world’s largest box ship

Maersk Line has taken delivery of the world's largest containership on Tuesday, dubbed the Madrid Maersk, surpassing the prior record set by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines' MOL Triumph, which was delivered March 27. While the MOL Triumph held the record for the largest boxship at 20,179 TEUs, the Madrid Maersk now holds that record at 20,568 TEUs.

A Maersk spokesperson told American Shipper the company expects the Madrid Maersk to enter service in late April.

The vessel is the first of 11 EEE Mark II class boxships due for delivery from Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) ordered at a total cost of $1.8 billion in 2015. The last of the deliveries will be completed by mid-2018.

The second generation Triple-E vessels come with modifications that increase their nominal box intake by 12 percent over the original 20 Triple-E’s that were delivered from the same shipyard between 2013 and 2015, Splash 24/7 said Wednesday. However, both vessel models have the same 400-meter by 60-meter dimensions, and can stow 24 bays of containers in length and 23 rows of containers across deck.

However, with the new generation, the bridge has been moved two bays toward the bow, the engine room moved on bay aft, and smaller engines have been installed, Splash 24/7 said. The hull is deeper to accommodate one extra tier of containers in the holds and heightened lash bridges allow additional tiers of deck containers.

But just like the MOL Triumph, the Madrid Maersk’s record will also be made null as the 21,200-TEU OOCL Hong Kong is set to be delivered from Samsung Heavy Industries in mere weeks.